feat: allow a flag to not set gitignore on netlify dev (#7572)

khendrikse · web-flow · commit dae4c4cb1a72 · 2025-08-22T09:08:48.000+02:00
Co-authored-by: Karin &lt;=&gt;
diff --git a/docs/commands/dev.md b/docs/commands/dev.md
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ netlify dev
 - `auth` (*string*) - Netlify auth token - can be used to run this command without logging in
 - `offline` (*boolean*) - Disables any features that require network access
 - `port` (*string*) - port of netlify dev
+- `skip-gitignore` (*boolean*) - skip adding .netlify to .gitignore file
 - `target-port` (*string*) - port of target app server
 
 | Subcommand | description  |
@@ -56,6 +57,7 @@ netlify dev --edge-inspect
 netlify dev --edge-inspect=127.0.0.1:9229
 netlify dev --edge-inspect-brk
 netlify dev --edge-inspect-brk=127.0.0.1:9229
+netlify dev --skip-gitignore # skip adding .netlify to .gitignore
 BROWSER=none netlify dev # disable browser auto opening
 ```
 
diff --git a/src/commands/dev/dev.ts b/src/commands/dev/dev.ts
@@ -224,10 +224,12 @@ export const dev = async (options: OptionValues, command: BaseCommand) => {
   })
 
   // Try to add `.netlify` to `.gitignore`.
-  try {
-    await ensureNetlifyIgnore(repositoryRoot)
-  } catch {
-    // no-op
+  if (!options.skipGitignore) {
+    try {
+      await ensureNetlifyIgnore(repositoryRoot)
+    } catch {
+      // no-op
+    }
   }
 
   // TODO: We should consolidate this with the existing config watcher.
diff --git a/src/commands/dev/index.ts b/src/commands/dev/index.ts
@@ -93,6 +93,7 @@ export const createDevCommand = (program: BaseCommand) => {
         .conflicts('edgeInspect')
         .argParser(validateShortFlagArgs),
     )
+    .addOption(new Option('--skip-gitignore', 'skip adding .netlify to .gitignore file'))
     .addExamples([
       'netlify dev',
       'netlify dev -d public',
@@ -104,6 +105,7 @@ export const createDevCommand = (program: BaseCommand) => {
       'netlify dev --edge-inspect=127.0.0.1:9229',
       'netlify dev --edge-inspect-brk',
       'netlify dev --edge-inspect-brk=127.0.0.1:9229',
+      'netlify dev --skip-gitignore # skip adding .netlify to .gitignore',
       'BROWSER=none netlify dev # disable browser auto opening',
     ])
     .addHelpText('after', () => {
diff --git a/tests/integration/commands/dev/dev.test.ts b/tests/integration/commands/dev/dev.test.ts
@@ -573,6 +573,52 @@ describe.concurrent('command/dev', () => {
     })
   })
 
+  test('should not add `.netlify` to `.gitignore` when --skip-gitignore flag is used', async (t) => {
+    await withSiteBuilder(t, async (builder) => {
+      const existingGitIgnore = ['.vscode/', 'node_modules/', '!node_modules/cool_module']
+
+      await builder
+        .withContentFile({
+          path: '.gitignore',
+          content: existingGitIgnore.join('\n'),
+        })
+        .withContentFile({
+          path: 'index.html',
+          content: '<html><h1>Hi',
+        })
+        .build()
+
+      await withDevServer({ cwd: builder.directory, args: ['--skip-gitignore'] }, async () => {
+        const gitignore = await fs.readFile(path.join(builder.directory, '.gitignore'), 'utf8')
+        const entries = gitignore.split('\n')
+
+        t.expect(entries.includes('.netlify')).toBe(false)
+        t.expect(entries).toEqual(existingGitIgnore)
+      })
+    })
+  })
+
+  test('should not create a `.gitignore` file when --skip-gitignore flag is used', async (t) => {
+    await withSiteBuilder(t, async (builder) => {
+      await builder
+        .withContentFile({
+          path: 'index.html',
+          content: '<html><h1>Hi',
+        })
+        .build()
+
+      await withDevServer({ cwd: builder.directory, args: ['--skip-gitignore'] }, async () => {
+        try {
+          await fs.access(path.join(builder.directory, '.gitignore'))
+          t.expect(false).toBe(true) // Should not reach here
+        } catch (error) {
+          // File should not exist, which is expected
+          t.expect((error as NodeJS.ErrnoException).code).toBe('ENOENT')
+        }
+      })
+    })
+  })
+
   describe.concurrent('blobs', () => {
     describe.concurrent('on startup', () => {
       test.skipIf(process.env.NETLIFY_TEST_DISABLE_LIVE === 'true')(
